Thai people will have a chance to view a large number of shooting stars on the night of Thursday, Dec 14, until the next morning, said Saran Poshyachinda, director of the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Narit).

Although the Geminid meteor shower can be seen during Dec 4-17 this year, Mr Saran said the meteor shower will be most prolific on the night of Dec 14 starting from 8.30 pm until the next morning, with an average of 120 shooting stars in an hour.

The centre of the Geminid meteor shower is on the northeastern direction of the sky and can be seen with plain eyes in every part of the country, said Mr Saran, adding that, thanks to the waning moon, Thai people have a good chance to see the shooting stars for the whole night until 3.55 am of the following day.

Besides the Geminid meteor shower, the director said that there would be another meteor shower phenomenon on the night of Dec 22, but the number of shooting stars would be around 10 per hour.

On this occasion, Narit, in cooperation with Doi Inthanon national park would bring about 100 people who joined the “Open sky…look for stars” programme to Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in Thailand, to watch the shooting stars on the night of Dec 14.

Two observatories – one in Nakhon Ratchasima and other in Chachoengsao – will be opened for members of the public to view the shooting stars.

The Narit would also hold the shooting star-watching activity at the Samila beach in Songkhla province.